Ceremony of Innocence a Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative (Draft: V
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Ceremony of Innocence: A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative Ceremony of Innocence A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative (Draft: v. 5.0) by Jim Bizzocchi B.A. Psychology University of Michigan, 1968 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPARATIVE MEDIA STUDIES AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2001 2001 Jim Bizzocchi. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Signature of Author: _______________________________________________________ Department of Comparative Media Studies August 20, 2001 Certified by: ______________________________________________________________ Peter S. Donaldson Professor of Literature Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: ______________________________________________________________ Henry Jenkins Professor of Literature Chairman, Committee for Graduate Students Page 1 Ceremony of Innocence: A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative Ceremony of Innocence A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative by Jim Bizzocchi Submitted to the Department of Comparative Media Studies on August 20, 2001, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Comparative Media Studies Abstract Interactive narrative is an emergent medium in the process of finding its own voice. This thesis examines one work in order to help reveal the poetics of interactive storytelling. It involves close readings and analysis of the interactive CD-ROM Ceremony of Innocence. Ceremony of Innocence is based on the Griffin and Sabine trilogy, a unique combination of the epistolary novel and the pop-up book. The books consist of cards and letters exchanged between two lovers. The interactive work uses the characters, the plot, and all the cards, letters, and graphics from the books. The picture side of the postcards and envelopes, sometimes much altered, become interactive puzzles. When the puzzle is solved, it triggers a voice-over reading of the text of the card or letter. The thesis is based on several close readings of different segments of Ceremony of Innocence. Some of the close readings involve an exhaustive look at a single puzzle-card, others examine the flow through several adjacent puzzle-cards, and still others look for reflections of broad themes that cut across the entire work. Each methodology isolates the evidence of narrative concerns (plot, character, emotion, theme) as instantiated in the interactive design of the work. The thesis questions whether there is a necessary inconsistency between the narrative and interactive domains, and whether and how Ceremony of Innocence bridges any such inconsistency. The thesis maintains two conclusions. First, a broad narrative texture is distributed widely throughout all aspects of the experience: graphics, sound, cinematics, font, and performance. The other discovery is that the interactive process itself forms a kind of narrative. Ceremony of Innocence incorporates the use of interactive micronarrative at a fine degree of granularity, building micro-arcs that bring narrative concerns down to the level of the individual mouse-click. The work also subverts the familiar role of the cursor and the standard graphical user interface, causing the user to directly experience aspects of the story. Ceremony of Innocence succeeds as story because of its incorporation of narrative at every level of the work, including the interactive design itself. This is a lesson for all designers of interactive narrative. Thesis Supervisor: Peter S. Donaldson Title: Professor of Literature Page 2 Ceremony of Innocence: A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 5 Prologue: Mapping the Thesis ................................................................................................ 7 The Works: Griffin and Sabine / Ceremony of Innocence Introduction .....................................................................................................................................9 Griffin and Sabine ..........................................................................................................................10 The books The story “The Second Coming” The themes The epistolary tradition Ceremony of Innocence ..................................................................................................................18 Comparing Ceremony of Innocence with Griffin and Sabine - specific variances General variance - the conditions of reception Translation effects Context: Game and Story ..............................................................................................................22 Methodology: Close Reading Process Structuring the observations ...........................................................................................................24 Context for the observations ..........................................................................................................25 Close Readings Griffin and the Sphinx [G9G].........................................................................................................26 The gameplay Narrative connections Griffin’s letter [G9G] Minnaloushe ...................................................................................................................................39 Minnaloushe and character Minnaloushe and Griffin Sabine and Cemetery [G18S] .........................................................................................................44 The puzzle and the card Narrative and the Cemetery puzzle Remediation of the book - component media Analysis of the gameplay Selected Themes.............................................................................................................................48 Themes and their reflection in game play Love, death, and rebirth Mystery, quest, and discovery Story, gameplay, and the role of the cursor Page 3 Ceremony of Innocence: A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative Transformation: a special relationship between theme and game play ..........................................53 Transformation and Interaction Transformation and gameplay Transformations of the cursor Iconic transformation of the cursor Cursor function and narrative implications Transformed cursor functionality in Ceremony of Innocence Expressivity and Craft Expressionist Cinema - Expressive Cinema...................................................................................65 Expressive use of interactive craft..................................................................................................66 Interactive structure Emergent narrative structures Embedded Narrative Structures Elements of Interactive Narrative...................................................................................................70 Character World Design A final word The Micronarrative.........................................................................................................................74 Narrative arc in Ceremony of Innocence - In search of the micronarrative The broad narrative arc Narrative arc in a single puzzle - The Lizard [F3S] The micronarrative quantum: the micro-arc The micro-arc, granularity and the reward cycle Conclusion Interactive Poetics in Ceremony of Innocence: Texture and Focus................................................86 The interactive micronarrative The remediated cursor Interactivity and Narrative............................................................................................................. 88 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 94 Appendices Appendix A - Labeling Conventions for Cards and Letters...........................................................97 Appendix B - Ceremony of Innocence - Cards and Letters............................................................98 Appendix C - Terminology ..........................................................................................................101 Appendix D - Database of Gameplay Observations.....................................................................104 Appendix E - Table: Analysis of [G9G] - The Letter...................................................................122 Appendix F - Yeats’ “The Cat and the Moon”.............................................................................124 Appendix G - Yeats’ “The Second Coming” ...............................................................................125 Appendix H - Table: Minnaloushe Variations: Book to CD-ROM.............................................127 Appendix I - Variances Between Books and CD-ROM..............................................................128 Page 4 Ceremony of Innocence: A Case Study in the Emergent Poetics of Interactive Narrative Acknowledgements If “it takes a village to raise a child”, the same is true of a thesis. Bakhtin points out that we share in the history of ideas that began and